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The Sovereignty in HALO's Universe
'The Sovereignty & HALO' The Halo franchise has captured my imagination as few things have. I guess because of it's Originality, and the richly-detailed Universe, the back-history and that it's a tale of War, Humanity and ultimately Hope. Like others, I have a mind that longs to wander and play in other's sandboxes, but with Respect, as it's Unthinkable to damage the franchises that I love so much. This means a LOT of nit-picking work to be sure I do no harm to Canon and Continuity. But the Galaxy, is a big place. 'Galactic History (Alternate) Selinianity has a continuous history spanning 150 Millennia, and they were an interstellar presence of some considerable note back in the days when The Forerunners were the main force in the Galaxy, and the two had their conflicts with each other. They survived, as a species and a Civilization, the HALO Activation, although they could only shield one world, thus their Galactic population was drastically reduced. Still, they survived, and lost nothing...and possess the longest continuous history Extant in the Galaxy to the modern era. Because of the Unique way in which Selinianity began, and that they had The Prime Mother, Lyllith, to guide them for 2 Millenia, they achieved in a very short span of time what took other species tens of millenia to achieve. By the time the Forerunners knew of Selinianity's existence, they were too powerful to try dominating as the Forerunners had all other species and were alarmed at the level of technological sophistication in addition to how utterly unfamiliar Selinian technology was. By the time the two civilizations truly encountered each other, Selinian technology was rivalling Forerunner tech, and in some ways was superior to Forerunner technology as well as being very different and distinct from Forerunner or Precursor technology. Overall, the Forerunners were reluctant to stir up trouble with an interstellar presence as large, organized and powerful as Selinianity...especially given how different and ruthlessly efficient their technology was. The Forerunners had based their technology on what they had captured in their defeat of the Precursors, and the Covenant uses technology scavenged from Forerunner artifacts. Selinianity developed it's technology on it's own. Thus, it was very different from anything the Forerunners had ever encountered, and much of it involved principles the Forerunners found 'disturbing'. Another aspect of Selinianity's differences, is that Selinian starships typically began Engagements by way of missiles, fighters and combat drones at distances of 90 AU (1 Astronomical Unit = 8 Light Minutes, or 8 x 90 Light Minutes). Forerunner and other forces considered 1 Light Second to be about Maximum Engagment Range. Typically, by the time Forerunners and others knew they were under fire by Selinian vessels the battle was over as Selinian battle methodology was that of a Hunter/Predator species. However, there were numerous Incidents and Conflicts in space and on various planets between Forerunners and Selinianity in the times of the Human-Forerunner and the Foreunner-Flood Wars that demonstrated clearly to the Forerunners that pushing Selinianity too far would have very severe consequences as evidenced by the fates of other space-faring species that had unwisely started Wars with Selinianity. 'Selinian & Foreunner Relations' Given how Forerunners viewed the Galaxy and all other lifeforms in it, and that Selinians had a very 'opposite' view on the Galaxy, it was inevitable that the two civilizations would conflict with each other. Selinianity held to a perspective of Naturalism and Liberty, that Life governed itself innately and needed no over-arching 'authority' and that Liberty and Freedom were the primary Innate Birthrights of all Life. The Forerunners, holding to the perspective of The Mantle needless to say found Selinian views to be heretical and right from the start there was considerable friction. The difference in cultural perspectives could be easily seen in how they managed and kept their respective worlds. Where the Forerunners covered the land in metal and artificial structures, Selinianity always keep very sizable Green-Spaces and natural wilderness on their worlds--indeed, it would be very difficult for many to precisely state where a Selinian city began and Nature ended. Selinianity interfered with nature as little as possible, and only if needed. When they Seliniformed living worlds from lifeless, airless, sun-scorched rock they made them lush with life and did so with great care as each was a work of Mastercraft. In the main, Selinianity preferred to seliniform worlds --and on occasion entire star systems-- from base-level rather than impose themselves on life-bearing natural worlds. The reverence of Nature went so far as to the Adulthood Rite, a kill-or-be-killed contest in an arena between a 14 year old Selinian and a properly matched Ghost Cat so that it is a fair fight. A mandatory cultural requirement, it sees fully 35% of any given generation killed in the arena. It is not entertainment, and indeed is open only to Family and those Invited. It is done naked. One enters and fights only with what one was born with, and applies equally to males and females with no leniency given to any suffering from debilitating genetic conditions as time has shown that some of the least likely to survive, managed to win and went on to become Citizens of noteworthy talent in various fields. Selinianity in-turn saw the Forerunners as Authoritarian and tyrannical, opposing them from the initial contact with the Forerunners and with increasing aggressiveness towards the Forerunners as they pressed Selinianity to accept their place under The Mantle. While outright war was averted, it was only because Selinianity was really only interested in defensive operations and in keeping Forerunner influence out of their space--desiring only to be left alone. Focussed as they were on Defensive Operations there was really never any grounds for a War to get started as the Forerunners knew that they were the ones instigating things by repeatedly testing the patience of Selinianity. Additionally, the Ecumene had been in a Disarmament sentiment, and the Incidents with Selinianity had shown they were not given towards such themselves and fought in ways and with strategies and tactics that the Forerunners had trouble adapting to. What the Forerunners didn't know was that the Human-Forerunner War saved them from a backlash against the Forerunners by Selinianity that would have been unlike anything the Forerunners could have conceived of. Selinianity is not given to going to war without a very good and solid reason--they are not a 'Warrior Race' and don't think of themselves as such--but when they do go to War, it is with a ruthlessness, agression, hostility and determination that is truly a terrible thing. 'The War That Never Was' Shortly before the start of the Human-Forerunner War, Selinianity had been preparing to deliver a single, massive strike to the Ecumene that would have utterly destroyed Forerunner dominance in the Galaxy. What the Forerunners were facing was a species artificially-evolved from Predator stock, and one that practiced a pass-fail/die Adulthood Rite that every Selinian underwent at age 14. Selinians are Patient, and had been studying the Forerunners for a long time, and had so charted the Forerunner's psychology and technology that they had achieved a position from which they could have succeeded in a Decapitation-Strike. In short, the Forerunners were about to face every Selinian over the age of 14 in War, instead of a discrete Military. The magnitude of this is easy to underestimate, but as Selinianity had been spreading out, Seliniforming worlds, then star systems, bringing about Garden Worlds from lifeless rocks, they're population had been growing to suit. Selinians are born with an arsenal of bodyweapons, thus they are a naturally Armed species and personal weapons are very much the norm, notably the Ta'Zaakelh. Thus, every Selinian over the age of 14 is Armed with unspeakably lethal bodyweapons but the vast majority possess and wear Ta'Zakelh, or 'Personal Weapon'. 'Sideline Observors' (The Human-Forerunner War) When the Forerunners mistakenly went to War with Humanity, Selinianity was already aware of Humanity, from a few very tensely-friendly Contact Incidents. All Selinianity really knew about Humanity was they held a large Empire and seemed somewhat paranoid and highly-aggressive. Selinianity had no interest in provoking them, and Humanity was not truly threatening them, so the two civilizations left each other alone aside from small-scale trade. Selinianity wrote it off to Humans behaving with appropriate care and caution as they had done in similar manner and were quite prepared to relate on a similar level of aggression if they pushed first. Thus, Selinianity was unaware of the reason of Humanity's behaviour in-general: The Human-Flood War. When the Human-Forerunner War ignited, Selinianity stayed out of it. The issue wasn't all that clear and they made some mistaken assumptions as had the Forerunners about what Humanity had been doing when the Forerunners declared War. 'Secrets Found & Threats Revealed' During the period of time between the Human-Flood War/Human-Forerunner War and the Forerunner-Flood War the Sovereignty had been dispatching many scientific missions into Humanity's defeated Empire to seek out any and all Archeological evidence of Humanity's Civilization and History before the Forerunners finished expunging it all. Needless to say, the Forerunners weren't very tolerant of such, and while Forerunner forces were very hesitant to provoke a War with a species that hadn't been exhausted by War and had been growing largely unnoticed during the Human-Forerunner War, they did what they could to hamper Selinian efforts to preserve and record information on the Human Empire. Eventually, Scientific Missions were escorted by Military, and on occasion Sunajzh. There were Incidents during that period of time, with lives lost on both sides. The Prometheans and The Didact however learned that Sovereignty Military and especially Sunajzh were not to be trifled with. 'Pride Goes Before The Fall' Selinianity managed to piece together a lot of evidence about Humanity, and carefully preserved it all. In the course of studying much of the information found amonst civilian possessions (including those from University scholars and such) was evidence of what had driven Humanity into inadvertantly provoking the Forerunners--then discovered that if the Humans and Forerunners had bothered to try communicating instead of blindly going to War, Humanity would have survived, but a War would have been avoided and The Flood wiped out. Alarmed, the Sovereignty Military opened a Research project to model data based off all the info they had from what they had seen of the Wars and raking through every scrap of info they had about Humanity. In some old reports filed with Insurance industry and related info, they found evidence of ships being stolen, failing to make port, yet not being reported as destroyed. Then realized that the Tactic was horribly familiar. In 2 major wars against non-Selinian species, Selinianity had sent 'Arks' out beyond the Galaxy's edge to wait out the conflict and if need-be, to rebuild the Selinian Species and Civilization. The Flood had undoubtedly done the same. When the Sovereignty tried to make the Forerunners aware of it, it was dismissed as wartime-Propaganda and such, with the Sovereignty delgates being nearly laughed out of Forerunner Space. 'Conspiracies Only Need Be Proven Once' The Sovereignty saw a storm on the horizon that might not come for some length of years, but nontheless, they saw it well enough that the Sovereignty began changing it's security protocols in and immediately around the Sovereignty, as well as assisting Sovereignty Systems in upgrading as well. The Forerunners took note of such in their long-range and risky Covert Intell/Surveillance, but simply ascribed it to their nighbours having finally learned to properly fear the Forerunners Wrath after the Example made of Humanity and it's Empire. Civilian Battleskins became standard clothing and increasingly evolved in aesthetic ability as well as more pragmatic aspects. What Selinianity had learned of The Flood had shown them to leave no chance where The Flood could 'leak' through and start consuming worlds...evan a single world could lead to Apocalypse, and Selianity didn't delude themselves otherwise. 'Time Makes Fools Of Us All' When the Forerunners finally encountered The Flood, Selinianity had already solidly braced itself for what was coming, that they're tried to warn the Forerunners about. Selinianity had also been engaged in hunting down what Extragalactic Arks they could that had been proven to be a Fact during one incident during a failed Incursion into Sovereignty space. The Forerunners encountered The Flood, and immediately upon Selinianity suspecting such (from disruptions in observed Ecumene Civilian traffic pattern and Covert Surveillance of Forerunner Military Comms) the Sovereignty was on a complete War footing with Sovereignty Military operating alongside System Militias and the Machine Intelligences went into War-Footing also, and Sovereignty space swarmed with Hunter-Killer drones. Selinianity knew what kind of Threat they were facing, and were prepared to fight the Forerunners simultaneously with The Flood...and Starsword-carrying vessels were assigned locales ideal for such an event. 'The Scourge & Selinian-Forerunner Relations During the War' During the War, the Sovereignty conserved it's forces by not offering any support to the embattled Forerunners, but did conduct their Intel and Surveillance missions to keep themselves updated on what was going on, and also acquire every scrap of useful information that would help them survive. Ark Fleets were doubled to 2 launchings per Century, and the Sovereignty Military grew as the Sovereignty didn't halt the steady expansion of itself and helped every star system keep their System Surveillance/Interceptor Networks up-to-date, and ensured not a single alien vessel survived crossing into Sovereignty space long enough to regret it, let alone cause trouble. In the course of the War, Selinianity worked on it's own to preserve what it could of worlds who had yet to be consumed by The Flood and built Installation Habitats similar to the Shield Worlds, HALO rings and Ark although such were purely intended as population shelters to preserve Selinianity and it's Civilization. As a measure against The Flood, Selinianity and the Machine Intelligences came up with Nanoviral Pseudo-Organic Macro-Organisms. Otherwise known as The Scourge. A 'weapon' so devastating, so Complete and so absolutely Final that only the threat that The Flood presented was sufficient to inspire it. Based on Nanotechnology, Semi-Autonomous and controlled via Quantum Entanglement by a Quintumvirate of Machine Intelligences, the nanotech worked on Organic Matter--ANY Organic Matter-- as well as Inorganic matter and deconstructed it, then re-purposed and re-constructed it towards the end purpose of creations that were Inimical to The Flood, and wholly immune to The Flood. The Flood, for all it's vaunted 'computing power' was as overwhelmed by The Scourge as were other lifeforms by The Flood. The Forerunners learned of The Scourge, and attempted to capture an oceanic Pseudo-Organic Macro-Form for study, assuming that it would be helpless out of the water, and found out first-hand just how unremittingly dangerous The Scourge really was, when it overwhelmed the crew of the science vessel and the assigned Prometheans within minutes of being brought on board, then modified the vessel itself into a Macro-Form by using it and the former crew's Biomass. The Scourge was properly Intelligent, and even Sentient in it's own right, but absolutely subservient to the Quintumvirate that guided it. It was a Final Resort, employed only in the direst of need to stop cold any Flood incursions that found purchase in Sovereignty space. The Librarian formally protested it's use --and indeed it's existence-- to the Sovereignty but was ignored although the Didact privately appreciated how Absolute yet Discriminating a defense and how perfect a Solution to The Flood it truly was. It both ignored and brought little to no harm to natural life, yet was absolutely inimical to Flood--and Forerunners if provoked by them. The activation of the Halo Array terminated every Macroform and Nanovirus of the Scourge in the Galaxy in the same manner that it killed Flood and all other Life. However, small colonies survived in Deep-Storage on the Homeworld, and if need be, The Scourge can be called forth again to deal with The Flood or a threat equal to or worse than such. Forerunner-Sovereignty relations didn't improve during the War one bit, and there were a number of Incidents between Forerunner and Sovereignty forces spurred by The Didact that had nothing whatsoever to do with The Flood. The Forerunners, as desperation increased, sought to bend Selinianity to their will and The Mantle, intending to use their vast numbers and civilization to the ends of defeating The Flood or at least buying more time to find a better and Final Solution. The reason for such is that Lifeworkers, in particular The Librarian, had discovered during analysis of Selinian DNA that they were a Genengineered species, albeit the level of mastery involved dwarfed that of the Forerunners abilities in Genenginering to insignificance. But, the Fact remained...they had been Genengineered, and ostensibly as Living Weapons. Selinians were in a way 'Immune' to Flood Infection due to their neural architecture, biochemistry, and Immune System as well as their regenerative ability and other aspects and elements of their forms that lended ideally to combatting The Flood--abilities and qualities that Didact was desperate to harness to The Mantle. By whom and for what reason Selinianity was created, none knew not even the Slinians themselves, but this Fact simply made The Forerunners more certain than ever that they held sway over Selinianity by virtue of The Mantle. The Librarian spoke of caution in attempting to master the works of others, but her words held little meaning to those intent on using Selinianity seemingly for the very purpose they were created for. The Incidents that resulted from such were essentially mini-Wars, fought from the perspective of neither side being willing to go all-out with The Flood looming menacingly. Also, Forerunner forces learned very well how adept Selinian Civilians were at defending themselves and in working with their Military. This meant very simply that Forerunner forces were outnumbered and consistently outmatched and if they stood their ground, Selinians had NO compunctions in killing them off to the last. Added in was an aspect of Selinian culture that was quite the opposite of the Ecumene and Mantle; every Civilian in the Sovereignty space was armed with Military-level weapons or had ready access to them or otherwise effective armaments and equipment--applying even to Civilian starships, which were to carry a minimal level of armament by Law. Things got to the point where Forerunner vessels, unless marked as those belonging to Lifeworkers, were fired on by any and every Selinian vessel that encountered them. Yet, as mentioned, respect for the Lifeworkers was maintained and they were left untroubled, asid from a few small incidents resulting from misunderstandings or Lifeworker over-reaching Selinian patience. Habitats of Redoubt The Primary Habitat located above the Galaxy's North Pole, fifty thousand LY above the center of the Galaxy was designated Adamantine Redoubt, and was built like two Forerunner Ark-type installations attached back to back. Equipped with Hyperdimensional FtL 'Jump' drives the Primary Habitats, like the smaller ring-shaped Secondary Habitats were capable of repositioning themselves if needed. The Forerunners noted the activity of the Sovereignty, and said little about it, occupied as they were in battling the Flood. What was known after an ill-fated Forerunner attempt at close-range surveillance was that the area of space out to five light-seconds around any Sovereignty Habitat was instant death without warning to any non-Selinian vessel. Each and every Habitat had a multi-layered and exceedingly formidable Defense Network protecting it. The Sovereignty isolated itself from the rest of the Galaxy, and only vessels operated by Machine Intelligences were permitted to leave Sovereignty space and return as they ranged the depths and continued to build support infrastructure like mining, automated research stations and the like outside Sovereignty space. Some of these were given towards analysis of The Flood and studying Precursor artifacts and ruins. Flood Research facilities were fully automated and utterly inhospitable to life, orbitting hot, blue giant stars. In the event a problem occured, the facility could be dropped or Jumped into the star. A multiply-redundant Failsafe system ensured that any tampering was worse than futile, it would guarantee annihilation. Long Range sensors and Covert Surveillance by both drones and Stealth Ships kept the Sovereignty aware and informed as to how badly things were going for the Forerunners...and alerted the Sovereignty to a horror against which The Flood paled to insignificance. '''''The Halo Array. 'Impending Apocalypse - Desperate Times and Desperate Measures' Upon learning of the Forerunners intent to deploy weapon systems that would eradicate all life in the Galaxy above the microorganism level, Selinianity wasted no time trying to argue with the Forerunners. Instead the Machine Intelligences began analysis work to ferret out what the Forerunners were building and how to shield against it, operating on pure theory based upon what was known of the intent, and working backwards from that. Most alarmingly was how little time there was before projections showed that the Forerunners would indeed use the weapon. It took time, and in the end, only one single Natural world could be protected aside from the Shield Worlds, and even then imperfectly. The homeworld of Selinianity was hastily englobed in a multi-layered satellite network that would generate the experimental shield and became an Ark-World, even as all the Habitats jumped well clear of the Galaxy, some out to a million LY away to wait out the coming deathstorm. Many people sought refuge aboard military vessels or the attendant Evacuation Fleets that jumped well clear of the Galaxy laden with supplies and stood protecting support fleets, some departing only seconds before the HALO Effect swept the Galaxy. Then, the Forerunners activated the Array and burned the Galaxy clean of Life. 'The Sovereignty & The Post-Activation Galaxy' The Effect swept through Sovereignty space as it did all other space, and instantaneously exterminated all life more advanced than a flatworm. Forerunners, Flood, Selinians, Sangheli, Humans and countless billions of other species were swept from the Galactic stage in a single, cataclysmic instant. Outside the range of the Effect, those who'd fled, watched the entire Galaxy glow with a consuming fire of exotic radiation and mourned the unspeakable loss of life. Drones fed data to those safely out of range by way of Quantum Entanglement comms, and they watched as in a moment ''the Galaxy became Silent as any grave could be. When the Effect had waned and faded to nothing, they returned, to the only world with Life still on it--the Homeworld, and others headed for the Habitats and Shieldworlds to join the populations there, unwilling to face the annihilation wrought by the Forerunners. The experimental shield protecting the Homeworld had worked, but imperfectly, and millions died in agony, slowly, from devastating neural damage that even Selinian regenerative ability could only fight a losing battle against. However billions more survived. The Machine Intelligences helped and protected their organic counterparts as the shocked species recovered from the enormity of what had happened and started to collect itself and set about rebuilding. It was in this time the Sovereignty truly became a Hybrid Civilization. The MI's in this time also began swarming the Galaxy with reconaissance drones, examining the worlds devastated, and landing automata on them to study and preserve what could be kept for The Archives. The Galaxy was Quiet now though...all that stirred was either Selinian, Machine Intelligence, or resulted from the automated re-seeder vessels of the Forerunners that the Sovereignty did not interfere with. Selinianity had plenty of work to keep itself busy with, rebuilding the ecosystems of all the Seliniformed worlds and natural worlds in the Sovereignty, resettling them, and rebuilding it's population. Out of nearly a trillion Selinians, only five billion and some had survived. The Sovereignty knew Peace after a long time of not having it, albeit at a terrible cost to the Galaxy. For a span of time, the entire species laboured under a broad form of 'survivor's guilt'. Eventually, this passed and Selinianity began once more moving ahead with Life rather than grieving. 'New Threats Emerge' The Covenant went largely unnoticed by the Sovereignty as the San' Shyuum set about the course in history that would come to form the Covenant. They had been aware of the species the Forerunners had preserved and re-seeded, but as always remained out of other's affairs in a manner of respect for other civilizations that may not want to make Contact. However, Covenant exploration in a never-ending search for Forerunner relics brought them into accidental contact with the Sovereignty, and while relations started off well enough, when it came to light that Selinianity had known the Forerunners and indeed had survived the 'Great Journey' as the Covenant referred to the activation of the HALO array, relations changed--as the very existence of Selinianity was a direct threat to the entire religion and thus the underpinnings of Covenant society, just as Humanity would be seen as, due to their status as Reclaimers. However, the Covenant was utterly unprepared for what occured upon their provocation of the Sovereignty. Thinking that the Sovereignty was nowhere near as large or as capable as it was, and being utterly unaware of what Selinian culture was truly like, the first attack against a Colony system known as Bright Star Dawning Rain went catastrophically wrong for Covenant forces as the entire population joined the dedicated Militia in fighting the Covenant forces, and when the Rapid Tactical Response Fleet of the Sovereignty Military jumped in a few hours later after the start of hostilities, the attacker's fates were sealed. 'Sovereignty-Covenant War: 1774 C.E' The abysmal failure of the attack against a colony system of the Sovereignty led immediately to the Sovereignty preparing for all-out War, and envoys sent to the Covenant were to make it very clear that the Sovereignty had withstood far worse threats and that if the Covenant didn't leave the Sovereignty in peace, the resulting War would be something the likes of which the Covenant couldn't imagine. As a 'demonstration', 13 BattleCarriers jumped into striking-range of important Covenant worlds, ran targetting-sweeps, then Jumped out before Covenant forces could respond properly. The 'demonstration' made one thing crystal-clear to the Covenant's Leadership...they were completely outmatched technologically and if the Sovereignty had been so disposed, they could have burned 13 worlds and done a very serious amount of damage to the Covenant's economy and supply infrastructure. However, the demonstration did provoke a more determined and better-planned attack against the Sovereignty as the Covenant could not be seen to be weak by it's member species and population. The follow-up attack was a major engagement hitting several systems simultaneously, and in each system they met the same dedicated and determined no-holds-barred resistance as had the first attack. The 'War' lasted less than a week, and saw the Covenant forces entirely outmatched and outnumbered, killed off to the last. Desperate to both avoid a reprisal strike that would be everything the Sovereignty envoys had spoken of and more, and also to save face and keep the Covenant intact, the Prophets managed to work a deal with the Sovereignty; In exchange for the Sovereignty agreeing to a cover story that this had all been a 'Terrible Mistake' the Covenant would never trouble the Sovereignty again. The Sovereignty, not interested in wasting resources and Selinian/Machine lives if it could be avoided, accepted the deal--with a very serious Warning; If the Covenant ever broke the Agreement, ''every ''Covenant world would be burned clean of life, every space installation reduced to wreckage, and extinction assured for every species in the Covenant. After what the Covenant had seen of Sovereignty vessels and weapons, they took the Warning at full-value. 'Contact: Humanity' 2525 CE was when Deep Range Reconaissance Vessels of the Sovereignty discovered massive traffic pattern shifts in the Covenant Military and began shadowing some vessels in order to find out the reason why. In the course of events, the DRRV assigned to shadow a Covenant Cruiser witnessed the UNSC colony of Eridanus II as it is glassed by the Covenant. Stealth reconaissance probe drones relay what's happening groundside before they are destroyed by the process and this information is directly relayed via Quantum Entanglement Comms to the Sovereignty. The report, and others over time as shadowing of Covenant Military vessels was increased, proved a long-held suspicion of Selinianity's that the Covenant was ruthless, hostile, and utterly expansionistic and Imperialistic. The Covenant was obviously not to be trusted at all. Once in the mainstream awareness, some star systems expressed an interest in helping the beleagured aliens the Covenant was attacking, especially given the closeness of appearance between Selinians and the new found species called 'Humans'. The similarity of appearance lit many discussions in the Sovereignty's science community and covert archeological research projects were approved to learn more about this new species from the remains found in the worlds the Covenant glassed or otherwise took from Humanity. Research into the Archives showed plainly that Humanity had somehow survived the War with the Forerunners long ago and when the Sovereignty managed to acquire some small DNA and tissue samples, the proof was conclusive. Humanity had survived. Many in the Sovereignty were pleased by this and wished to establish formal Contact and Diplomatic relations. However, there was also the sentiment that this was a Time of Trial for Humanity, and that like one's own Adulthood Rite, Humanity had to face it alone, otherwise it would be risking a grave insult to Humanity. Prolonged deliberation and popular sentiment kept the Sovereignty from officially or overtly supporting Humanity and declaring war on the Covenant...but at the same time, numerous systems chose to lend what covert assistance and support they could, VERY covertly. It was understood that those systems doing so, did so at entirely their own risk, and that if the Covenant struck back, they'd be standing alone against them and would recieve no Military aid from the Sovereignty. The Sovereignty, had other plans. knowing that the systems willing to throw-in and join the fight might very well be discovered, the Sovereignty quietly and completely prepared for all-out War with the Covenant. The Warning given to the systems attempting to assist Humanity had been only to serve to heighten the care and caution of those systems in their works. Also, some dispensation on the part of the Sovereignty was made in acquiring and handing off Intel on the Covenant to the systems determined to help Humanity survive. Thus, the stage was set for the unlikely and Unseen allies Humanity had in their battle for survival against the Covenant. 'The War In The Shadows' A total of five star systems put themselves on the line to support Humanity as best as could be done, without alerting the Covenant to what was happening, for if such happened, the consequences they knew would be dire--especially for Humanity. Sovereignty Law had long held that Civilian Starships had to maintain a Minimum Arsenal to be Licensed. This was a natural outgrowth of the view of weapons by a species born with inbuilt weapons, including projectile-type in the form of tongue-darts. As a result, little refitting was needed to turn some transports and freighters into solidly combat-worthy vessels, surpassing anything the UNSC had and capable of successfully engaging Covenant vessels. Some long-obsolete Military vessels were acquired, refit, and made part of the ''Militia Humanitas. Vessels in such were given the 'MHSS' designator for 'Militia Humanitas StarShip'. 'Unseen Saviours' During the entire time of the Human-Covenant War, the Militia Humanitas managed to remain unsuspected (aside from ONI and Covenant Intelliegence) and when they struck, they struck with Finality, leaving death and useless wreckage in their wake. Because of their activity and lethality, more than a few attacks against remaining Human Inner Colonies were either halted before they began, or were stopped by reason of cost-consciousness on the part of the Covenant and ships were saved for more important targets. Innovative and frighteningly destructive weapons were built from captured Slipspace engines, and left as 'Mines' around Covenant repair and resupply stations, Stealthed, they were set to go into a catastrophic overload on activation and form a massive, uncontrolled Slipspace rupture, destroying ships and stations utterly. Decoy-Strikes were done, where a skirmishing attack was merely a cover for a Stealthed Antimatter charge to be left on a ship's hull, mimetically blending in near-perfectly, and detonating at opportune times in proximity to other vessels. Obsolete starships were easily acquired by the MH and some included the Avenging Talon Class Fast Attack Ship. These ships were half the size of a UNSC frigate, but carried some of the best power-to-weight ratios and weapons to be found. Designed to be incredibly fast, agile and responsive, they carried little in the way of armor and shields, and relied mainly on blindingly fast, precision, attacks. The weapons of choice were 'swarm' missiles and Very-High-Density Particle Beams. 'Selinian Technology & Sciences' As survivors of the greatest cataclysm in galactic history, Selinian sciences and technology never underwent a fall or regression, but for a very long time progress all but totally halted as the species was busy with reclamation efforts and there was little impetus for progress and improvement thus what technology and such existed up to that point underwent a prolonged period of refinement instead. However, while progress had slowed to a crawl, it did not halt entirely and it was more a time of consolidation and such regarding progress made to the point just prior to the HALO Activation. However, in time, the creative spirit and drive arose again, driven by new needs and challenges and technological progress picked up and marched on. New explorations of the Galaxy began, and enormous Multisprectral Optical and Radiometric/Quantum Interferometric telescopes were set up outside the Galaxy to peer deeper into the Universe's secrets and depths. Progress continued, new technologies developed and previous ones refined to their apotheosis and the Sovereignty was largely untroubled aside from incidents between Sovereignty star systems now and then, and scientists watched the worlds the Forerunners had re-seeded without interfering in them. Some missions were sent into Forerunner space, to study what they'd left behind, but otherwise they disturbed the remnants of their fallen neighbour's realm as little as possible. Portions of formerly Forerunner space and Human Empire space gradually came under the Sovereignty as it continued to grow, but slower now than before...and with care, lest left-behind weapons and other dangerous artifacts be triggered accidentally. 'Overview of Selinian Technology' Selinian technology developed independently of the Precursors and Forerunners and some is very distinct in both operating physics and principles, and is both phenomenally powerful, yet amazingly subtle. Selinian technology is highly refined and exceedingly durable, more so than even Forerunner constructs. They are very much a fully Tier 1 Civilization, edging into Tier 0. 'Particle/Antiparticle Synthesis' VARIES Instead of carrying around immense fuel tanks of volatile and dangerous Antimatter, Sovereignty vessels make use of a system based on M-AM Particle Synthesis. However, due to immense refinement and a very in-depth knowledge of Quantum and Particle Physics, the process used aboard their vessels operates in the Kilowatt-range and produces useful amounts of fuel (Particle/Antiparticle pairs) in short spans of time, typically a Kg/minute under normal circumstances but can reach 1 Kg/sec when brought to the Megawatt range. Thus, vessels only keep a small reserve to handle sudden transient changes in fuel demand, which are far easier to make fail-safe than a large amount in storage which can be very problematic when in combat. Other versions of this are used for Industrial purposes in custom-designing and producing synthetic elements and alloys of such that are otherwise impossible to realize, and Perfect down to the placement of the last atom. 'Interatomic Nuclear Force Enhancement' Imagine a sheet of aluminum foil, now, if one were to enhance it's interatomic nuclear bonding forces by 1000X, making it 1000x stronger what could you make with such a material?? The Sovereignty discovered and refined this aspect of physics to it's highest form, allowing for materials vastly stronger than anything found in nature, and allowing for incredibly durable yet lightweight armor and machinery and alloys of incredible purity and sophistication by altering the nuclear binding forces during production in absolutely Gravity-Free Environments. 'Dark'/Exotic Matter/Energy Another avenue of their sciences allowed for the generation, control and manipulation of such aspects of reality as so-called 'Dark' Matter & Energy. This opening other avenues to Selinianity, such as more aspects of Quantum Phenomena and control of such. Including Hyperspacial Weapons, weapons that operate at FtL speed across distance, but so unspeakably destructive that aside from a few tests, they have never been deployed. However, this science and related technology found it's way into improving many others, refining the understanding of still more, and showed the Universe in better perspective to Selinianity than anything they'd ever dared to hope for. Such as Matter that could be made non-reactive to Antimatter, owing to a Quantum Stasis Effect on the Atomic and deep sub-Atomic levels that allowed Antimatter to be stored as easily as water or nitrogen gas, depending on it's state, eliminating magnetic containment in all but a few applications. 'Dimensional Physics aka: 'Flatspace Similar to Forerunner technology, yet operating on very different principles, Selinianity has mastered 'Discrete Dimensional Engineering', using dimensional space outside the Relativistic (Normal) 4D realm for a variety of purposes. Where the Forerunners use Slipspace and it's various realms, Selinianity prefers to use variants of Calabi-Yau space and engineered 'Non-Space', in a manner similar to opening a wormhole, then closing one end and stabilizing it as a region utterly devoid of space and time in the conventional sense. This along with Nuclear-Force Control, Nano and Microtech is what allows a Selinian woman to walk around seemingly wearing very little, yet in the blink of an eye, at need, her clothing can deploy the rest of itself and protect her with the equivalent of a Mjolnir Mk-VI, as example. It's also employed on many vessels, allowing starships and other vehicles to carry advanced, heavy armor protection yet keep it stored away when not needed and eliminating the penalties for such under non-combat conditions. 'Microtechnology and Nanotechnology' Both technologies have been long used in Selinian civilization, and have reached heights of sophistication, safety, and complexity undreamt of even by the Forerunners. Combined with the other technologies and sciences these two related technologies have allowed for unprecedented developments, and have been extensively utilized by the Machine Intelligence Community. Insect-sized automata carry swarms of nanobots as roving maintenance and repair systems on starships and elsewhere across the Sovereignty. In fact, it's very unusual to find any Selinian creation that does not have an innate auto-repair/maintenance system like such. Starships also swarm and teem with crab-sized automata that serve to assist the Organic crew by going into places that are simply too small for a Selinian to enter. In use in all clothing and especially Military armors like Battleskins, the tech is responsible for healing and preserving the life of the wearer ahead of structural repairs and such to the armor/clothing, unless such is necessary for the survival of the wearer (a toxic armosphere and a suit breach as example). One aspect of Selinian materials technology is that the very fine control of Nuclear Force allows for materials that 'heal' by themselves seemingly, without Nanotech involvement, where the broken ends seek each other and reform together without a sign they were ever broken. Applied to clothing, it means that it becomes amazingly durable. Applied to armor, like Battleskins or the plating and structure of a BattleCarrier, it means that they possess starships that are very difficult to permanently damage. 'Weaponry & Related Technology' Selinianity, while possessing Hard Light technology, utilized it for other applications and rarely for weaponry. Instead, Selinianity preferred to remain with Physical means of attacking enemies, such as Gauss-based weapons, Particle and Plasma based weapons, and Lasers. While these might sound 'primitive' consider the degree of advancement in them, such as the standard Military sidearm: 'The SMSMISA M-98 ''' SMSMISA M-98 or Sovereignty Military Standard Military Issue Side Arm Model Ninety-Eight came from a long line of rugged, durable, dependable weapons that had served for millenia, changing only as newer technologies matured. The present incarnation fires a laser-pulse guided, microwave-confinement jacketed medium-density particle beam of protons lasting a hundredth of a second. On it's highest of three settings, it could completely penetrate seventy millimetres of face-hardened, rolled homogenous steel armor plate at a range of twenty metres. In the weapon's grip was a sophisticated piece of highly advanced engineering incorporating radioactive, long-lived elements in a quartz-copper crystal matrix that served as a long-lived Betavoltaic power source that recharged the weapon's firing cells as needed. While built to serve in-field Military purposes, it had also gained other characteristics over time that aided those and allowed an expanded role. Adjustable target sights and excellent inherent accuracy allowed it to serve extremely well as a hunting weapon in survival situations. The weapon has three settings: 1: 'Stun' which is quite a bit less-lethal than the other settings, but by no means is it 'harmless'. 2: 'Normal/Standard' which is the weapon's statedly Normal operational level of power. 3: The final is 'Maximum' which employs the maximum capacity of the weapon's ability and is the setting that can penetrate seventy millimetres of face-hardened, rolled homogenous steel armor plate at a range of twenty metres''.'' This weapon has a removeable firing cell that is rechargeable either in the weapon by the onboard Betavoltaic crystal or by an external charger. Commonly in pitched battle situations, it is of course quicker to swap out a charged cell for a depleted cell and recharge later. This is done about as quickly as a trained user can reload a revolver with a speedloader. Other Military weapons are quite similar to the UNSC Sniper Rifle, however they utilized a Gauss-effect to accelerate the projectile and magnetic bias to impart stabiization-spin. Simple, straightforward, ruggedly dependable under all conditions unlike energy-based weapons, it could utilize a variety of mission-specific munitions and due to it's power the barrel and breech were mounted on an in-built recoil-absorbing carriage that incorporated a linear magnetic generator to both damp recoil and recover some energy to feed back to the weapon's powercells. On it's 'Field' setting which was only useable when wearing Battleskin the weapon could easily hit and kill Brute and Sangheli targets out to the horizon on Earth-type worlds. Battle Rifles were again Gauss-based kinetic weapons, although Energy variants also exist and if called for were issued. The average Battle Rifle found in the Sov Military fires a 6.66 mm round at 9500 Feet-per-Second with a cyclic rate of fire of 600 rounds/minute, capable of selective 3 round bursts and semi-automatic mode as well. Magazine capacity was a standard 300 rounds, but larger magazines are available up to three times the size of Standard. This is due to the fact tbat there's no case or propellant to be found, thus a lot of weight and valume is saved. The advantage to this weapon is that like any projectile weapon, the munitions used can be selected for mission requirements. Such as Armor Piercing High Explosive, Target Signature Seeking (Smart Bullets), etc.. Grenade launchers are also a standard part of Military equipment also and very frequently employed in underbarrel configuration, and usually have a small magazine with selectable-munition option. 'ENERGY BASED WEAPONS' There are situations and environments where energy weapons have a clear advantage over projectile-kinetic weapons, and Selinianity has a fine stock of such. 'PLASMA BASED WEAPONRY' The Covenant is famous for it's Plasma-based pistols and rifles, and Selinians do possess plasma-weaponry, however it is of a very different nature and considerably more powerful. Plasma weaponry is mainly seen as Direct-Fire Heavy/Support/Anti-Vehicular weapons and are used in similar manner to shoulder-fired anti-vehicular weapons employed by Infantry, however, they have more than a single shot, and rechargeable/reloadable and have an immensely destructive effect against all targets. they can also be set to fire in a cone, for dealing with close-in massed enemy. These weapons and mode of operation were used extensively during the battles against Flood incursion long ago and were very effective due to the large area of effect and the destruction of flood biomass, like swarms of Infection Forms. A unique form of plasma-based weaponry possessed by Selinianity is referred to as 'Black Fire or Dark Fire' and is Xenon plasma saturated with Dark/Exotic Energy-Mass. In appearance, it looks like a blue-tinged white-hot plasma with a dense electrical blue electrical arcing throughout it and an absolutely black 'corona' visible only from a near-directly 90 degree perpsective due to it's paradimensional characteristics. While it does operate like normal plasma when impacting matter, it has other effects that make it truly devastating, especially to living organisms of any description. Black Fire penetrates energy shielding like it's not even there and is typically 25, 000 Degrees Celsius yet that refers only to the confines of the plasma itself, it radiates no heat, yet if one is close to it, one does feel a chill as it either absorbs, or negates thermal/IR energy outside itself. However, on impact, the thermal effect is fully 25,000 degrees Celsius as well as a very potent electrical effect in addition to kinetic effects from the velocity of the bolt which is never seen as less than 5200 Feet-per-Second in personal-scale/pistol weapons and somewhat significantly denser than normal plasma. Near misses, yet ones that are not actually making physical contact, kill surface tissue and leave burns of up to the 3rd degree variety that are like a combination of electrical/thermal/cryogenic material burns and take much longer than normal to heal even with advanced treatments. Direct hits are Universally Fatal to any lifeform, and have significant negative effects on a lifeform even without penetrating through most personal-scale armor suits and Battleskins, such as the Mjolnir and Sangheli Elite armors. Black Fire was developed at the time the of the Forerunner-Flood War, and saw use during Flood Incursions into the Sovereignty. A Sunajzh development, it made them Death Incarnate to The Flood, especially with their Battleskins generating and wreathed in it, serving as shield and weapon at the same time. No Flood form could come close enough to touch them, and the Sunajzh have such an unparalleled understanding of it that they command it as if it were an extension of their mind, will and body. The Sunajzh gave the secret of Black Fire to Selinianity to aid in the battles against The Flood, on the understanding it was kept for Selinianity alone and never to be shared with non-Selinians. Dark Fire weapons are found in similar weapons as pistols and carbine-type rifles, vaguely similar to Covenant weapons, although very distinctly Selinian. Sleekly-made and engineered, they are nonetheless extremely durable devices. They are reloaded by a clip containing Xenon gas, a powercell, and a core chamber in the clip containing the Dark/Exotic Energy-Mass. The weapons have their own inbuilt Betavoltaic energy crystals also. They can be fired with clips containing any other gas, such as Neon, Helium, Hydrogen, etc. but then operate as s 'simple' plasma weapon and are not discharging Dark Fire. Plasma weapon clips contain enough material for hundreds of discharges as the gas is held in a high-density liquid state for maximum storage efficiency, and the Dark/Exotic Energy-Mass itself is of a density approaching that of a gas. While a Dark Fire weapon can operate as a 'normal' plasma weapon, a conventional plasma weapon cannot act or operate as a Dark Fire weapon as it does not possess the necessary components and design elements. 'PARTICLE BEAM TECHNOLOGY' The preferred Military energy weapon technology of Selinianity for the reasons of zero-flight-time, precision, and the catastrophic effects on the target due to extreme ElectroThermoKinetic effects from the beam impact. Also, PB weapons have a superior ability in penetrating energy shields and much longer ranges than even the best plasma based weapons. PBs can be made Neutral temporarily, until impact with the target, thus rendering them immune to magnetic deflection. Some PB weapons fire Anti-Particle discharges rather than conventional Proton-based discharges, others can switch between the two, depending upon the target. These are found almost exclusively in Military use as few Civilians have use for, or need for, such immensely destructive weapons. 'THE SCOURGE' The penultimate Nanotechnological weapon deployed during the Forerunner-Flood War by the Sovereignty. Both Guardian and Weapon, it overwhelmed The Flood in every encounter, 'devouring' it and re-purposing it's biomass and resources towards further anti-Flood activity. It's Nanoviral Pseudo-Organic Macroforms extended into space, oceans, atmospheres, and on land. Anywhere The Flood could go, it went, pursuing The Flood hungrily. The Macroforms that went spaceborne utilized Casimir Effect drives for sublight propulsion and to maximize stealth and speed. This was a development The Scourge developed on it's own in it's ongoing effort to maximize it's own efficiency in regards to eradication of The Flood. It also had the benefits of being useful in atmosphere and underwater as well without damaging the local environments. Such propulsion allowed for equal 'thrust' in all directions, achieving unparalleled agility and maneuverability for the Macroforms. In battle against Flood controlled vessels these qualities made it exceedingly difficult for Flood vessels or Mendicant Bias to accurately target them. Spaceborne Macroforms utilized missiles that themselves were simply smaller and very single-minded Macroforms as well as Antiparticle Beam weapons that in later years of the War began including Dark/Exotic Energy-Mass in the beam as well as confined normal Matter and upon impact the electrostatic/nuclear force effects keeping the normal matter insulated from the Antimatter in the beam would collapse and a Matter-Antimatter reaction would take place on the target's shields or armor with catastrophic effects. 'THE ''SUNAJZH''' Humanity has it's Spartans. The Forerunners had their Prometheans. Every civilization and culture has it's Best-of-the-Best Selinianity has the Sunajzh. The Sunajzh are a culture all their own within Selinian civilization, dating back to the times of Lyllith, who formed them initially. She took one thousand of the absolute Best men and women after a year long Olympics-style event, and spoke to them privately, about things they have never revealed to the rest of Selinianity. They keep to themselves, have their own worlds, and have their own nation on the Homeworld, yet unfailingly have always been available when Selinianity needed them due to threats against the species as a whole. They do not fall under the authority of any save their own counsel, and no attempt to infiltrate their worlds has ever been successful. Indeed, no outside has ever seen a Sunajzh's face as when moving among the rest of Selinianity, they wear masks, always Individual, but offering no hint of what the wearer's features are or even allowing their eyes to be seen. Sunajzh technology is very Selinian, but they have their own unique and distinct developments as well. Dark Fire being one of such. Another is the unique nature of their Battleskins which incorporate a modified form of the technology of The Scourge as part of the overall structure and allows for additional capabilities unseen in conventional Battleskin makes and models. The technology is a seperate development from The Scourge, but is similar in many ways. The Sunajzh are a Warrior-Scholar culture, sworn and dedicated Protectors of Selinianity against all threats the Universe might bring. They constantly push themselves to the highest levels of personal advancement and development, education and knowledge, always striving to be better and better--as individuals and as a culture. Sunajzh starships and other equipment is designed markedly differently than Sovereignty-found items. Sleeker, even more efficient than normal Selinian-made artifacts, and uniformly matte-gloss Black. 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